2 yr old Screams, I'm so desperate!!!?

Question

I have a 2 year old boy whom just seems to lose it every once in a while and I am just not sure how to handle it to be honest. Nothing has seemed to work. The thing is it just comes out of nowhere. He is simply watchng cartoons and smiling and then all of a sudden burts out into a scream and begins crying, comes to me and hits me or head butts me. I find this so abnormal, I had a talk with the Doctor and he doesn't seem to think that anything is wrong. My son doesn't speak very well yet so i'm not sure if that's the reason. Doctor says he is just being lazy and is choosing to not speak yet. He does say a few words but not as many as I have seen other 2 yr olds say. I am currently pregnant about to give birth next month and I find myself just getting so irritated at him doing this, and so I dont even know if maybe I am feeding into his behavior but honestly I dont know what else to do. I even cry out of desperation sometimes because it's a constant thing that he does throughout the day. Has anyone gone through this?

Answer 1

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Answer 2

You could ignore the screaming, time-outs for the hitting and head-butting, and a short and stern "No hitting, no head-butting!"  As he goes into the time-out (we use a playpen in a quiet room).  

1 minute for each year of his life--in this case, two--and no talking to him or paying attention to him while he self-calms.

You can also remind him to use what few words he has when he's trying to get your attention by screaming or whining.  Try to interpret what he wants and offer him the word i.e.: Pointing at the apple and making whining noises = you say, "Apple please?" and try to wait until he makes an attempt at those words to give him the apple.  It's a good way to work in words and manners at the same time.  It's sort of like training a dog, I'm almost ashamed to admit.  

An alternative is that he's having some sort of epileptic reaction to the cartoons he's watching.  Most people who have seizures have very few symptoms and most of the torrent of activity is in the brain.  Get a second opinion of his behavior from a child behaviorist or another pediatrician or a neurologist who specializes in children.  

It's likely that this is a behavioral issue, but a doctor who calls the child "lazy" isn't worth a revisit.  2 year olds can't *be* lazy.  They can be oppositional, angry, low on the speaking spectrum, but not lazy.  Your best bet is to try behavioral and language training.  Get a good early childhood textbook from a college bookstore or amazon.com and take a look at some more activities to help him master more language and behavioral milestones.

Make sure you're reading books at least once a day for a few minutes, even if he won't sit still to be with you.  Your voice in his ear will give him more words to use.  Watch him, I'll bet he watches your mouth when you talk so he can parrot your movements when he does speak.

Good luck, mum!

Answer 3

He's 2, and 2y/o are strange creatures. Spend more quality time with him. One on one time may help. He may just be trying to get your attention. Good Luck

Answer 4

I believe that most of the answers are missing the point toyour question...how do you get your child to stop doing this...my advice is not to feed into it! If there is not injury, no reason, he is wet or he is hurt or he is hungry then just pick him up and put him in his room. Calmly tell him that you understand he is upset but that his behavior is not acceptable, when he is done screaming and carrying on then he is welcome to come out of his room, until then he is to stay in there. Then let him scream and scream if thats what he wants to do. If it continues for an extended period of time I would check on him periodically but let him continue to scream. Most likely he is doing this to get some sort of reaction out of you you have to teach him there are positive ways to get attention and that his negative actions do not get him the attention he is looking for.

I have a 3 1/2 yr old and the minute tears or tantrum come on i tell her go to your room. We have been using this method for a long time and she either quites right away or she goes to her room to vent her frustrations. When she is done she will come out and tell me she is done. Then we can have a talk about why she was feeling whatever she was feeling!! If your son does not communicate well with you, then you need to communicate even more clearly with him! Let him know exactly what is acceptable and tolerated and what is not!!!

JMO

~D~

Answer 5

kids this age dont know how to communicate with words, just get on their level and let them know you are trying to understand. work  with reading and games that bulid vocab, when they can tell you whats qwrong, the tantrums will lessen.  

Answer 6

My son, who has a speech delay, used to do this when he was frustrated with us because we couldn't understand him. He still does a less aggressive growl and makes a face at us when we can't understand him. He is 5yrs old. We were very firm with him when he would do it we would tell him if he wanted something ask nicely or take us to it.  At 3 we took my son to get his hearing tested then he was put in a preschool and given speech therapy. The preschool was through the public school district and it helped him beyond measure.

Answer 7

ok from what i've heard it looks like it's always happening when he is watching cartoon ? maybe a certain show is upsetting him ,, or he is trying to mimic a character try to observe more to find out what's triggering him .!

Answer 8

i think he is jealous of the new baby. try sitting down and talking to him about it. cause i really think thats whats wrong

Answer 9

Let me guess...you don't believe in spanking...